Nairobi (AFP) - The dumping of
plastic waste into the world's oceans is causing at least $13 billion a
year of damage, threatening marine life, tourism and fisheries, the
United Nations warned Monday at the launch of a global environment
conference.
"Plastics have
come to play a crucial role in modern life, but the environmental
impacts of the way we use them cannot be ignored," said UN Environment
Programme (UNEP) chief Achim Steiner said.
"The
key course of action is to prevent plastic debris from entering the
environment in the first place, which translates into a single powerful
objective: reduce, reuse, recycle."
Scientists
have found tiny plastic fragments trapped in sea ice in polar regions,
while plastic waste has killed marine life, whether it be eaten by sea
creatures such as turtles, tangled up dolphins and whales, or caused
"damage to critical habitats such as coral reefs," the report read.
"There
are also concerns about chemical contamination, invasive species spread
by plastic fragments, and economic damage to the fishing and tourism
industries in many countries—by, for example, fouling fishing equipment
and polluting beaches," it added.
While
much of the plastic waste ends up in vast mid-ocean rubbish patches
where marine currents converge, micro-plastics -- tiny fragments less
than five millimetres in diameter -- have had a growing impact that is
particularly worrying, UNEP said.
"Transported
by ocean currents across great distances, these contaminated particles
eventually become a source of chemicals in our food," Steiner added.
Some
of the tiny fragments are caused by the breakdown of plastics, but one
emerging issue is the increasing use of directly created "micro beads"
of plastic in toothpaste, gels and facial cleansers.
"These
micro plastics tend not to be filtered out during sewage treatment, but
are released directly into rivers, lakes and the ocean," the report
added.
Companies should take
responsibility, with experts arguing they could also boost their
business savings through greater recycling efforts.
"The
research unveils the need for companies to consider their plastic
footprint, just as they do for carbon, water and forestry," said Andrew
Russell, chief of the Plastic Disclosure Project, a UNEP backed
organisation.
The UNEP report
was released at its headquarters in Kenya as it opened its first
week-long conference bringing together over 1,200 delegates and experts
to discuss a raft of environment challenges.
The
UNEP conference runs until Friday, tackling a range of subjects
including sustainable consumption and production, and financing the
"green economy".
It will also examine the illegal trade in wildlife and environmental rule of law.
The
conference comes amid tight security in the Kenyan capital, after a
series of warnings of the threat of attack by Somalia's Al-Qaeda-linked
Shebab.
